Beth Cox

Driven by big gains in PC penetration and Web usage, Web/online advertising expenditures are predicted to reach $7.1 billion by 2002, according to a new industry study. The new research report comes from Simba Information in Stamford, CT and is entitled “Web Advertising 1998-99: Market Analysis & Forecast.” Growth rates will peak in 1999, when […]

Internet services company US Interactive Inc. said that Stephen Zarrilli has been appointed chief executive officer of the firm. Zarrilli, 37, one of the company’s original employees, had previously been the company’s chief financial and administrative officer. He succeeds Larry W. Smith. Smith, who resigned his position as CEO March 1, remains a significant shareholder […]

New York City-based 24/7 Media Inc. is acquiring Sunnyvale, CA-based Sift Inc., a provider of e-mail-based direct marketing services, in a $22 million stock-for-stock deal. Sift provides a suite of services for Internet-enabled, database-driven e-mail marketing, including an e-mail distribution service bureau, list management services and a service that appends e-mail addresses to existing customer […]

New York City-based VentureDirect Worldwide said it is relaunching the Free Forum, its network of free offer sites on the Internet, with a new look, an increased staff and a million- dollar advertising campaign. The ad campaign includes buys on The Globe, Planet Direct, Netscape, Smartage.com, Excite and Starting Point, among others. The Free Forum […]

Burlington, MA-based rep firm BURST! Media said it has enabled advanced rich media advertising across its entire network of more than 2,500 member Web sites. Rich media with animation, sound and interactivity in the space typically filled by JPEG/GIF-based banner advertisements “is the future of online advertising,” the company said. “Advertisers are shifting over to […]

Seattle-based Go2Net Inc., a network of branded, technology- and community-driven Web sites, launched its first national offline advertising campaign, designed to generate consumer and industry awareness. The campaign, developed by the Seattle-based Hadley Green Advertising agency, debuted with a full-color ad in USA Today. “The Go2Net Network has steadily grown into one of the Internet’s […]

Huntington Beach, CA-based Argent Capital Corp. said its plan to acquire 100 percent of the common stock of NetVoucher Inc. and its NetVoucher.com “e-Advertising System” contemplates a tax-free stock-for-stock exchange. All outstanding common stock of NetVoucher will be exchanged for newly issued Argent common stock and options to purchase additional shares of Argent common stock. […]

Be Free Inc., a provider of online affiliate network technology and services, said it has added affiliate outreach programs and management services and to its offerings and has released BFAST 3.0. BFAST 3.0 simplifies the affiliate application process and allows merchants to create virtual storefronts on thousands of affiliate Web sites, the company said. Be […]

Despite the attention on the Internet as a recruitment tool, help-wanted classified advertising is projected to be the most widely-used and effective venue for employers in 1999, according to a survey by the William Olsten Center for Workforce Strategies. The companies surveyed said that more than 43 percent of new hires will be recruited by […]

New York city-based FreeRide, an e-commerce affinity site, has launched a site for advertisers that serves banner ads to people when they want to see them. The company said the concept boosts banner click-through by 5 to 15 times the industry average. For a standard banner, that average is widely reported as less than 1 […]

Interactive agency Nicholson NY said it has begun work on a redesign and relaunch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Web site for its collections, programs and retail stores. The redesigned site is slated to launch in the third quarter of 1999. Billings for the project were not disclosed. The agency, which develops what it […]

Portland, OR-based interactive agency eyescream interactive said it has contracted billings for the first two months of 1999 in excess of the company’s total invoices for 1998, and expects to record $20 million in billings in 1999. In 1998, the company said it tripled the previous year’s billings. “I’m thrilled because growth means we can […]